The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new version of the "Job Safety and Health - It's The Law!" poster expanding the lists of employee rights and employer responsibilities, as well as providing additional information about training and injury reporting requirements.

Get the new poster here

The newly designed poster has been updated to include new reporting obligations for employers, who must now report every fatality and every hospitalization, amputation and loss of an eye. It also informs employers of their responsibilities to train all workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand, comply with OSHA standards, and post citations at or near the place of an alleged violation.

The OSHA poster is part of the Complete Compliance Federal poster which combines all SIX mandatory posters from all SIX Federal Agencies in one convenient format, ensuring you are in compliance. All Federal 6-in-1 posters are printed on recycled paper and laminated for extra durability. While previous versions of this notice are still acceptable we strongly recommend that you replace your poster with the most updated version today. All covered employers are required to display the poster in a conspicuous place where workers can see it.

St. Pete College Announces its 2016 Employers Summit

January 21, 2016
8:30am-10:00am
SPC, Clearwater Campus in room ES-104

Jobs for the Future, www.jff.org, will facilitate the meeting.

MEETING GOALS

• Introduce new employer partners to the college’s STEM Pathways programs and to three current students in the pathways
• Provide a forum for employers to discuss workforce needs (valued workforce readiness skills, identification of hard to fill positions, hiring trends) to promote stronger employment outcomes
• Explore internship opportunities and ways in which employers can strategically engage with the college to produce a more qualified workforce.

CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay understand the importance for employee training and skill upgrades. Innovation and technological advances are rapidly transforming US manufacturing.

The Lean Six Sigma series of courses are not just “training” your staff but directs them towards projects that provide real measurable returns. Lean and Six Sigma have been utilized in a number of industry including manufacturing, hospitals, financial services, government and the armed services. Staff members using these methods can provide measurable and predictable results.

CareerSource provides the following training classes at locations in St. Petersburg or Tampa and on-site at the employer’s facility (based on a minimum number per course).
• Lean Six Sigma White Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
• Lean Bronze

January Class schedule:
Six Sigma Yellow Belt:Thursday, January 7 and Friday, January 8 (16 hours)
Science Center, St Petersburg
8am-5pm
Price: $750.00 per employee
To facilitate training onsite the class minimum is 5

Six Sigma Green Belt: Monday, January 25 to Tuesday February 2 (56 hours)
Science Center,St Petersburg
8am-5pm
Price: $1995.00 per employee
To facilitate training onsite, the class minimum is 5

Click Here For More Information

Contact: Juditte Dorcy
dorcyj@careersourcetampabay.com, (813) 397-2045
Click Here For a Registration Form

Left to Right: Mike Brewster, Monin; Becky Burton, BAMA; Mike Shaluly, Mastercut Tool; Gov. Rick Scott; Jerry Custin, Upper Tampa Bay Chamber; Dru Wilson, USI Insurance; Rick Concotelli, Lockheed Martin.

Governor Rick Scott made a visit to Monin Gourmet Flavorings on Monday, Nov. 9, to propose $1 billion in tax cuts to grow the manufacturing industry and Florida’s small businesses to further diversify the economy and guard Florida against another economic downturn.

Governor Scott’s $1 billion tax cut package includes:

• Permanently Eliminating Income Tax on Manufacturing and Retail Businesses - The elimination of this tax will reduce the cost for businesses in Florida by about $770 million annually, attract more businesses to the state, and diversify Florida’s economy by helping more businesses succeed.
• Permanently Eliminating the Tax on Manufacturing Machinery and Equipment - This tax cut is estimated to reduce the tax liability of Florida’s manufacturing businesses by $76.9 million annually beginning in 2017. By permanently eliminating this tax, Florida will be more competitive for manufacturing businesses to start or expand. If no action is taken during the upcoming legislative session, there will be a substantial tax increase on Florida manufacturers.
• Cutting the Tax on Commercial Leases - Florida is the only state that has a tax on commercial leases which unfairly targets small businesses. Governor Scott is proposing to reduce the tax on commercial leases by 1 percent in 2017 through the use of both recurring and non-recurring funds. This will save Florida businesses $339 million over the next two fiscal years.
• Extending the Sales Tax Exemption on College Textbooks – Governor Scott is proposing to extend the sales tax exemption on the purchase of college textbooks for an additional year. The prices of college textbooks have increased significantly over the years, often exceeding $100 per book. Exempting college textbooks from the state sales tax is expected to save Florida students $46 million.
• Saving for Families with Sales Tax Holidays - The budget includes funding for a 10-day back-to-school sales tax holiday and 9-day hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday. These two tax holidays will save Florida families an estimated $72.8 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

Governor Scott said, “By eliminating the tax on business income for Florida manufacturers - big and small, and all Florida retailers, which include many small businesses all across the state, we are putting job creators on the road to success for years to come. I want Florida to be the small business capital of the world. Our state is already home to 500,000 small businesses. The more we can cut taxes – like the one on commercial lease – the more we can grow our small businesses in Florida and further diversify our economy to invest in our future.

“Florida is on a roll. Our businesses have added almost one million new jobs over the last four years, but we have more work to do. We can’t only create jobs when the national economy is good. We must cut taxes and diversify our economy so Florida can grow even when the national economy is bad. Florida must compete with Texas, and diversify our economy to guard against another recession.”

National Apprenticeship Week
November 1-7, 2015

National Apprenticeship Week is an opportunity for the national apprenticeship community to tell the story of registered apprenticeships. It is an invitation to businesses and industry, education, career seekers, community-based organizations, students and workers to learn about the real-world advantages of apprenticeships.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) as a recipient of a $5 million American Apprenticeship grant. FSCJ is leading the Florida Apprenticeship consortium and will support involvement with St. Petersburg College and Broward College. Together, all colleges will work with businesses and other partners to close the workforce skills gap faced by the Information Technology, Manufacturing, Healthcare and Construction/Trades industries across Florida by promoting the growth and expansion of quality and innovative apprenticeship programs over the next five years.

We invite you to visit the website to learn more about the Florida Apprenticeship grant project.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new version of the "Job Safety and Health - It's The Law!" poster expanding the lists of employee rights and employer responsibilities, as well as providing additional information about training and injury reporting requirements.

Get the new poster here

The newly designed poster has been updated to include new reporting obligations for employers, who must now report every fatality and every hospitalization, amputation and loss of an eye. It also informs employers of their responsibilities to train all workers in a language and vocabulary they can understand, comply with OSHA standards, and post citations at or near the place of an alleged violation.

The OSHA poster is part of the Complete Compliance Federal poster which combines all SIX mandatory posters from all SIX Federal Agencies in one convenient format, ensuring you are in compliance. All Federal 6-in-1 posters are printed on recycled paper and laminated for extra durability. While previous versions of this notice are still acceptable we strongly recommend that you replace your poster with the most updated version today. 

All covered employers are required to display the poster in a conspicuous place where workers can see it.
What Labor Law Posters Are Required by Your State?

This series of courses is designed to certify job seekers for jobs in the manufacturing field.

Nationally Recognized Certifications Participants can earn the following:

• Certified Production Technician
• Manufacturing Technician 1
• OSHA 30
• NIMS, PMMI, FANUC

Plus earn 15 credit hours towards an AS in Engineering Technology

MSSC-CPT:
Jan. 11 – Feb. 26 (MWR) 5:00p-9:00p
Feb. 1 – Mar. 25 (MWR) 8:00a-12:00p

Manufacturing Technician 1:
Ongoing, online with labs in Clearwater

Mechatronics:
Jan. 11 – Mar. 31 (MWR) TBD

FANUC Robotics:
Feb. 8 – Mar. 4 (TWR) TBD

WHO? Unemployed persons that would like to expand their knowledge while earning nationally recognized certificates and job placement assistance in the manufacturing industry.

www.spcollege.edu/FloridaTrade-SPC
Florida TRADE at St Petersburg College
13805 58th St. N, Clearwater, FL 33760
Contact: Dr. Jill Flansburg, Program Coordinator, Flansburg.Jill@spcollege.edu 727-791-2508

A flyer can be found here

Governor Scott, "Permanently eliminating your tax on equipment will be a top priority for me during the upcoming legislative session. This means this is your last chance to get engaged and tell your Legislators not to raise this tax on the purchase of your equipment." Read his entire letter here.

Florida TRADE FREE Information Sessions!
Tue, Oct.27 - 6 p.m.
Tue, Nov.17 - 6 p.m.
Tue, Dec.08 - 6 p.m.
Register now - FLTRADEHCC.com click “Forms”

Find your SPARK

• High Tech Training in Advanced Manufacturing
• Visit potential employers!!
• Upgrade your skills
• Increase your marketability
• Gain certifications
• Earn academic credit

Upcoming courses include:

• MSSC - Certified Production Technician
• CNC Machining pathway
• OSHA 30

Location: Hillsborough Community College, Brandon Campus, BSSB 218, 10414 E. Columbus Drive, Tampa 33619

Florida TRADE @ HCC delivers fast-track training in advanced manufacturing and provides internship & employment placement assistance.

Join us to learn more. Reserve your seat now at www.FLTRADEHCC.com.

Gov. Rick Scott Discusses 2016 Legislative Priorities at AP Editors Meeting: Eliminate the Business Tax for Florida Manufacturers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott attended the Associated Press pre-session meeting and announced two major priorities for the upcoming Legislative session. First, a tax cut package that will be larger than the proposed package last year, including the total repeal of the state business tax on every manufacturer in Florida. Second, making major reforms to Florida’s competitive jobs program. Governor Scott’s final, proposed budget will be announced in the coming weeks.

Below are Governor Scott’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
Florida is on a roll – I have to start by bragging. In a little over four years, Florida has created over 940,000 private-sector jobs. With the help and support of my friends in the Legislature: We have cut taxes over 50 times in the last four years and cut $400 million in taxes this year alone. We have invested record amounts for both K-12 and higher education, ensuring that every Florida student has the best opportunity to succeed. We have cut over 3,200 burdensome regulations to make it easier to do business in Florida.

We have been able to make record investments in education, our environment and transportation infrastructure while also maintaining a $1.2 billion surplus…without raising taxes. The average person pays about $1,700 in state taxes in Florida – the lowest in the nation. In the past 12 months, over 100 million people visited our state. We are at a 44-year-low in our crime rate. We are number one for aerospace manufacturing attractiveness. We are the number two state for infrastructure. We are also number two for aerospace and aviation establishments in the U.S. We are indeed on a roll, but we need to keep going to keep growing.

We have to cut taxes to keep growing. I know you all want to hear what we will focus on during the upcoming legislative session, and while we are still working to finalize our budget, I want to highlight two major priorities during my time with you today.

As I mentioned earlier, I am very proud of the work the legislature and my office have done together to turn Florida’s economy around. I am very excited to have heard from President Gardiner and Speaker Crisafulli both of whom share my goal to cut taxes again in the upcoming session. Working together, I know we can give Floridians back more of the hard-earned money they have made by turning our economy around and ensure that Florida continues to out-pace the nation and even take first place in job creation.

First, we will propose a tax cut package that will be larger than the package we proposed last year. One part of our tax package I can discuss today is that we will propose the total repeal of the state business tax on every manufacturer in Florida. This tax cut would be on top of our push to forever end the manufacturing sales tax. If the manufacturing sales tax isn’t repealed this year, there will effectively be a tax increase on manufacturers in our state who are planning to buy multi-million dollar pieces of equipment. Taxing this equipment will kill jobs. It is that simple.

Helping our manufacturing industry succeed is a key way to diversify our economy. Five years ago, our state was in a jobs death spiral. Our economy was in a steep decline and a lot of people talked about how we needed to grow more stable industries to recover. Now it’s time for action. Manufacturing is one of those high-growth industries that are critical to long-term job creation. The more we can cut costs for manufacturers in Florida, the more manufacturing jobs will be created here. It is really that simple. If you don’t want something to grow, tax it. If we want something to grow, we have to cut costs.

I hope 2016 will be the year of the manufacturer in Florida. Working together with the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I know we can become the most competitive state in the nation for manufacturing companies to invest, expand and succeed.

Finally, we must reform our competitive jobs program. The second priority we will focus on in the 2016 legislative session is making major reforms to our competitive jobs program. The Quick Action Closing Fund that EFI uses to attract competitive projects to Florida over other states is almost bankrupt. It was given very little funding during the last Legislative session and now there is virtually very little money left for Florida counties to use when competing against other places in the country for big job wins.

The current Quick Action Closing fund needs to be reformed, plain and simple. Florida cannot compete with Texas for major headquarters projects if we are running out of cash before the end of every year, or if projects are totally dependent on the scheduling of special committee meetings.

We have listened to concerns that some legislators have about the current system, and consulted with national Site Selectors about what they look for in Florida to advocate for major businesses – like GE – to move to our state. With all of this input, we will propose major reforms to the current Quick Action Closing Fund program before the beginning of the 2016 legislative session.

Those are the two main priorities I wanted to touch on today. I look forward to announcing much more when we roll out our final, proposed budget in a few weeks. ###